Like everyone, your museum or nonprofit is always looking for new ways to more effectively attract, engage, and retain your visitors, members, and patrons. Ready to give new meaning to the notion of customer loyalty? Enter… The Loyalty Loop!

What Is the Loyalty Loop?

The Loyalty Loop is a fairly new marketing model developed by global consulting firm McKinsey & Company that explores how customers develop loyalty to a particular brand.

Here are a few key components to help you adapt and understand the new customer journey:

Consider

Once your “customer” (i.e. your visitor, donor, or member) has noticed your brand, they’ll need to consider the prospect of engaging with it.

Evaluate

However, before they are truly ready to participate, they will find out if this is something that interests, excites, and aligns with them.

Buy

If they like what they see, they will then choose to move forward and support your organization. Hooray!

Enjoy

If you meet or exceed their expectations, there is a very high chance that they will continue to enjoy the benefits long after their first experience. With an awesome “product,” you can keep them coming back for more!

Bond

Find ways to allow your audience to bond with your brand as well as other like-minded supporters. This underscores the value and importance of providing various “social” opportunities within and around your organization.

Advocate

If all goes according to plan, your customer has now been converted to a loyal evangelist who will help amplify your mission and brand by recruiting others to join in. The more, the merrier!

Repeat

The Loyalty Loop is called a loop for a reason! These steps are not “one-and-done” and should be continuously repeated for as long as you engage your audience… which is forever!

How you can leverage the Loyalty Loop:

Now that we’ve covered the basics, here are some of the ways you can leverage aspects of the Loyalty Loop.

Build up your Content Supply Chain

It’s all about the right message at the right time. Consider developing a content supply chain for your audience members. A content supply chain is a collection of messages and materials sent to each customer to ensure that you keep your audience engaged over time.

Align your Marketing with Consumer Preferences

It’s crucial to ensure that your marketing efforts are right in line with consumer’s preferences. An analysis of your audience’s preferences can allow you to uncover the most effective ways to engage them. For instance, if you discover segments of your audience prefer to engage with you on Instagram over Facebook, you should then focus your energy on Instagram.

In an era in which we’re all fighting for attention, we need to embrace the tools and techniques that are here to help us. The Loyalty Loop is one of many approaches here to help your organization thrive when it comes to delivering, understanding, and mastering the customer experience.